Hemming attachment for sewing-machines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. B. BROWER.

HEMMING'ATTAGHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 428.885. Patented May 27, 1890.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

.H. B. BROWER.

HEMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 428,885. Patented May 27, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIRAM B. BROIVER, OF NEIV HAVEN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BENJAMAN O. PRATT, OF MIDDLETOIVN, CONNECTICUT.

HEMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 428,885, dated May 27, 1890.

Application filed February 28, 1890, Serial No. 342,159. (No model) To aZZ whom, it may concern: muslin, &c.where a finely-stitched hem is Be it known that I, I-IIRAM B. BROWER, of desirable the line of stitches to secure the New Haven, in the county of New Haven and fold of the hem is run on very short feed, so State of Connecticut, have invented new Imthat the stitches may present a neat andfinprovements in Hemmers; and I do hereby deished appearance; but such succession of clare the following, when taken in connection stitches laid so closely together serves to cut with accompanying drawings and the letters the fabric and destroy the durability of the of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, hem. and exact description of the same, and which The object of my invention is to produce a 10 said drawings constitute part of this specifisewing-machine hem which will more strongly 6o cation, and represent, inresemble the hand hem than the usual sew- Figure 1, a side view of the attachment, ing-machine hem can do and overcome genlooking from the right; Fig. 2, a top view of erally the objections to the common sewingthe same, showing the hemmer as in position machine hem; and the invention consists in I 5 to the right; Fig. 3, the same as Fig. 2, but the arrangement of the hemmer by which the showing the hemmer in the position to the fold in the fabric is arranged upon a movleft; Fig. 4, a diagram illustrating the stitchable device adapted to give to said hemmer ing of the fold of the hem; Fig. 5, a modifia transverse reciprocating movement across cation in the mechanism for operating the the path of the needle, and so that the edge 20 hemmer. of the fold produced by the hemmer will be This invention relates to a device for 2113- presented to the needle first at one side, so

tachmcnt to or combination with sewing-mathat a stitch will be made through the body chines for performing the-work commonly of the fabric close to the edge of the fold, and called hemming. then the next stitch made directly through 2 5 In the more general construction and arthe fold and fabric near the edge, and so 0011- rangement of hemmers they are set upon the tinuing, stitches being made alternately machine in a fixed position with relation to through the fabric and through the fold, the needle, and so that the line of stitches is thereby running a zigzag line of stitches run near and parallel with the edge of the across the edge of the fold, and whereby the 30 fold turned to produce the hem. The hem fold is secured'over its edge directly to the thus produced on a sewing-machine differs body of the fabric. from that made by hand in that in the hand In the best construction of the hemmer I operation the stitches take directly into and employ an attachment adapted to be applied cross the edge of the fold, thereby securing to the presser-foot of the sewing-machine, said 35 the fold to the body of the fabric atthe eX- device provided with an arm Which will carry treme edge, whereas in a sewingmachine the hemmerin the usualrelation to the needle, hem the line of stitches must necessarily be and with mechanism between said arm and at a greater or less distance from this extreme the needle-bar, whereby the up-and-down reedge and parallel therewith, leaving that edge ciprocating movement of the needle-bar will 40 free and unsecured, so that in thin light work, be converted into transverse reciprocating as muslin, linen, &c., this edge is liable to movement of the said arm carrying the hamturn away from the body of the fabric and mer. Such an attachment isillustrated in the give to it an unfinished appearance. I11 drawings. laundering unless great care is used the edge A represents the socket by which the de- 45 is frequently turned over onto the fold, so as vice is attached to the presser-foot bar, and 5 to give an irregular appearance to the edge. in the usual manner of applying other oper- In the very soft fabricsuch as light wools or ating attachments to the sewingmachine. silk-used for ladies wear-this difficulty is a To this socket the base B is attached or made serious objection to a sewing-machine hem. a part thereof. Preferably it stands at the 50 Again, in light fine fabricssuch as linen, rear of the needle and inclines downward and hemmer V is attached.

in connection with sewing-machine attaeh-' ments, such as rufiiers, braiders, the. Upon the under side of the base and upon a pivot E a vibrating arm F is hung, which receives from the needle-bar, through the slide a vibratory movement as from the position in Fig, 2 to that seen in Fig. 3, and as here represented this vibratorymovement is imparted by means of a dog G, hung upon a pivot II in the said slide C so as to swin in a horizontal plane. 011 the base 13 beneath said dog is a switch I, hung upon apivot J. The said switch is constructed with a shoulder K on one side of the pivot and a similar shoulder L on the opposite side of the pivot, with which the corresponding arms M and N of the dog G are adapted to alternately engage. At the rear of the shoulders K L the switch is constructed with an outwardly-projecting cam O on one side and P on the opposite side, and so that as the needle-bar rises and the slide 0 is moved forward the arm M has engaged the shoulder K and turned the switch to the left, as seen in Fig. 2. Then as the slide C on the next downward movement of the needle makes a rear movement, the arm M will strike the cam J' of the switch, and so as to throw the dog to the left, as indicated in broken lines,

Fig. 2. This will bring the arm N to the rear of the other shoulder L of the switch, and so that on the next advance the arm N will engage the shoulder L and turn the switch to the right, as represented in Fig. ()n the next return the arm L will. strike the cam I of the switch, so as to throw the dog to the right and adapt it on the next advance movement to again engage the shoulder K. Thus the forward-and-back movement of the dog will impart a corresponding vibratory movement to the switch, and this vibratory movement is communicated to the arm F by a stud R, working through a slot S in the bed-plate and in connection with the arm F below. This is a common and well-known construction for converting the vertical reciprocating movement of the needle-bar into a horizontal vibratory movement.

The arm F extends forward of the pivot and terminates in a presser-foot T, so that the presser-foot receives a corresponding vibratory movement. Through the presser-foot T is an opening U, through which the needle works to form the stitch. The under face of the presscr-foot is preferably longitudinally serrated or otherwise roughened, so as to give to it a sufficient hold upon the work, that the work may partake of the vibratory movement of the presser-foot.

To the presser-foot end of the arm F the This hemmer is of the usual construction, adapted to fold the hem, and of a size corresponding to the width of the fold required or the work to be performed. As represented, the hemmer is detachably connected with the presser-foot by means of a clamp and screw XV, but so that it will partake of the vibration of the presscrfoot, as from the position seen in Fig. 2 to that seen in Fig. 3 and return.

The hemmer is arranged upon the presserfoot, and in such relation to the line of the needle that the edge of the fold made by the hemmer will alternately cross the path of the needle.

In Fig. 4: I represent the stitches to be produced. In that figure, (1 represents the body of the fabric, h the fold of the hem, and c the edge of the fold. As this edge ofthc fold ispassed to the right and left across the path of the neodle one stitch will be made through the fabric, as at 2, Fig. 4, and near the edge of the fold. Then as the needle rises and before its next descent the work is inoved to carry the edge of the fold across the path of the needle, so that the next stitch will be made through the fold, as at Then for the next stitch the work is returned, and that stitch set through the fabric, as at 4, again returning. The next stitch will be made through the fold, as at 5. Thus continuing, successive stitches will be laid alternately, one through the fabric, through the edge of the fold, and the next through the fold near the edge, thus laying a zigzag line of stitches over the edge of the told.

by making these stitches as I have described obliquely across the edge of the fold the thread serves to lay and hold the edge of the fold firmly upon the fabric,substantially the same as in hand-hemming, where each stitch is taken through the fabric and edge of the fold, and as the stitches are made thus alternately the perforations to form the stitches are made in two parallel lines, thus making a greater distance between each two piercings of the needle than would be with single stitches, and the thread, lying diagonally as it does across the fabric, avoids the cutting of the fabric, and the stitches may be made extremely short, much more so than practical in straight-line stitching, and the hem produced is not only better, stronger, and more durable than the straight-line stitching, but the appearance of the hem is far more tasteful and artistic than can be produced by the straight-line stitching.

I have represented the hemmer as being made substantially a part of an independent attachment of the sewing-machine; but it will be understood that while this is preferable, it is not essential to the invention, as it may be made a permanent part of the machine and operated directly from the shaft of the sewing-machine, or othcrwise--as, for illustration, in Fig. 5 a transverse slide (l is arranged in the sewing-machine bed orworkplate carrying the hemmer V, and to this slide and hemmer a transverse reciprocating movement may be imparted directly from the shaft of the sewing-machine, as through a lever e, hung to the bed of the machine, as upon a pivot f, and extending to a convenient point where a cam or other device may be applied, (not shown,) which will impart a vibratory movement to the said lever, which vibratory movement of the lever will be converted into transverse reciprocating movement of the hemmer, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 5, and the same result attained as first described; but under this arrangement the presser-foot should be so formed as to permit the work to slide beneath it.

It will be understood the usual sewing-machine feed is employed to give the longitudinal feed to the work which passes through the hemmer the same as in the first illustration, the hemmer serving to pass the edge of the hem backward and forward across the path of the needle, as in the first illustration. The sewing-machine feed is represented in Fig. 5; but the mechanism connecting with the drivin g-shaft for operating the feed is not shown, it being common and Well known, and the cam for operating the hemmer is not shown for the reason that it is unnecessary, such cam attachments for operating mechanism from the machine being common and wellknown to all persons skilled in the art to which this invention pertains; or the hemmer may be provided with a tongue g, (represented in broken lines, Fig. 5,) which will extend beneath the presser-foot, and through which the needle will work, this tongue being adapted to move the work to the right and left, as before described. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention to any particular mechanism for giving to the hemmer a transverse reciprocating movement with relation to the path of the needle, which I have described.

It will be understood that the invention is applicable, substantially, to all sewing-machines, and that it is unnecessary in the illustration of the invention to show any part of the sewing-machine other than that already shown and described.

I claim 1. In a sewing-machine substantially such as described, having a stitch-forming mechanism and a longitudinal feeding mechanism, the combination therewith of a hemmer adapted to present the work to the needle, and mechanism, substantially such as described, for imparting to said hemmer a transverse reciprocating movement, substantially as specified, and whereby the stitches to secure the fold of the hem will be run in a zigzag line across the edge of the fold.

2. In a sewing-machine substantially such as described, having a stitch forming mechanism and a longitudinal feeding mechanism, the combination of a transversely-vibrating arm carrying the presser-foot at its forward end, mechanism, substantially such as described, between said arm and the needlebar, whereby the vertical reciprocating movement of the needle-bar will be converted into said transverse vibratory movement of said arm, and a hemmer in connection with said arm, an d arranged forward of the presser-foot and so as to partake of the transverse vibratory movement of said arm, substantially as and for the purpose described.

HIRAM B. BROWER.

\Vitnesses:

FRED C. EARLE, GEo. D. SEYMOUR. 

